I'm planning a build of a low power, low noise, and low cost machine; and I fully plan on taking advantage of undervolting. Between all of these goals, an Aopen nVidia based motherboard looks ideal. But I'm still torn between which flavors of the AK79D I should go for.

The reason I'm torn is mostly because of 8rdavcore. I'd like to use it in my goals to reduce power to the machine. However, 8rdavcore specifies that it works on the VN. Since the Max uses the same chipset, it should theoretically work with the program, right? Well, I don't want to spend an additional $30-40 USD only to find out that I'm WRONG.

I could also use encouragement that I don't need the Max either, since I'm not entirely sure on the differences between the two (SATA and Firewire seem to be the primary differences). Right now, I don't have devices of either type. I doubt I'll get or use SATA on this machine, though ideally, I would like to use a notebook drive on it (something I have no experience with). I have no clue when and where I'd use Firewire.

BTW, I'm also open to other suggestions. This is primarily going to be an email/web machine with the occasional DVD/DivX/Flash movie and an older game or two (Homeworld 2 is the most advanced game I'll play on this). Ideally, I'd like to be able to leave this machine on during the day and not worry about wasting an exorbitant amount of power. Since I don't have the processor yet, I'm even willing to entertain the idea of using a different platform, but low cost is a BIG priority to me.

PS - Any suggestions on how much memory I should load up into this machine? If I were my old self building a power machine, I'd go for a gig w/o blinking an eye, but this isn't meant to be a power machine.

Upon further inspection, there are two more differences. The Max has a 2nd bios to keep it from being useless after a BIOS flash, and the the Max also has Adjustable CPU Ratio through Bios. Any guesses or clues as to what that might be? I'm thinking that it's the multiplier control, but can anyone confirm?

In researching the Shuttles supported by 8rdavcore, I came across a page in German saying that someone got the SN41G2V2 to work with 8rdavcore, even though it isn't listed as supported (the SN45G is, but they've got different motherboards).

I'm hoping that the Shuttle MN31N will work. Can't seem to find anyone who knows for sure though. Probably all either of us can do is buy the board and give it a go.

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